Specials (studio album)
by The Specials
Top 20 albums of 1979 (
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Condition: New
The Specials bestography
Specials is ranked as the best album by The Specials.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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Specials track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
0
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Specials rankings
Latest 20 charts that this album appears in:
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Specials collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 235 members
Specials ratings
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 464 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
90/100  | 10/04/2025 13:04 | cronadigallina | | 67/100 |
75/100 | 09/19/2025 10:44 | markl73 | | 79/100 |
45/100 | 07/13/2025 13:57 |  Dingerbell | | 63/100 |
75/100 | 07/12/2025 00:17 | traistboar | | 79/100 |
75/100 | 06/13/2025 17:47 | Invader666 | | 65/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.7/100, a mean average of 76.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.1.
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Specials favourites
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Specials comments
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This is quite a monotonous and repetitive listen that felt rather slow for me. The instrumentals seem very similar from track to track and none of them really hook me into the record. It does blend some interesting styles together and this fusion is maintained pretty well throughout but it just gets boring after a while. If you picked out individual tracks and gave them an isolated listen they would sound superior but with them in an album context it just doesn't work and I find myself getting drawn out of the album quite a lot. Also, I find the instrumentation to be a bit simplistic and I feel like the record could do with some more experimentation and flare. Overall, this album really lacks a punch for me and after the many listens I have given it, I still haven't grasped the record or understood the hype surrounding it.
I like more punk tunes and this is definitely original, but I can't stand big part of this record.
Jboy56 01/13/2022 08:19
Ska is pretty boring music if listened to this many songs in a row. Put the best tracks on a mixed playlist,. then it will be okay. Fun music and well-executed and produced,
fun ska. gangsters epic
Favorite Tracks:Nite Klub, Blank Expression, Little Bitch
Very consistent, high energy album and a great introduction album for anyone wanting to get into 2-tone which mixes Punk with Ska.
Fun, energetic and great production provided by Elvis Costello. If there is one ska album you should have in your collection it's this one!
There are a few really good tracks on this album but most are just good. I like ska but when they split and formed fun boy 3, i thought the music went to a higher level.
planetneutral 01/13/2018 16:25
Pretty much what a ska album produced by Elvis Costello would sound like.
This is ranked outside the top 500 albums! Incomprehensible!! This is a real classic- so much energy, humour and personality. This album is a joy. So many classics including their peerless cover of "a message to you Rudy". The pace never lets up and the tracks simply burst out of the speakers. Highly recommended.
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